


it’s kinda like the little mermaid except ariel might eat you

by stuffandsundry



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: M/M, Nothing Hurts, gabe works at monterey bay aquarium, jack is a blue mako fishboy, mermaid au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-20
Updated: 2016-09-19
Packaged: 2018-08-09 20:49:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 8,503
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7816744
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stuffandsundry/pseuds/stuffandsundry
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gabriel Reyes has been volunteering at the Monterey Bay Aquarium for several years, now. But he's never met a visitor like this before.<br/>...<br/>Because this blonde surfer boy looking motherfucker is a mERMAID, APPARENTLY THATS A THING NOW, HOLY SHIT.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Gabe sees some of the kids on the ground floor whisper to each other, pointing at the leopard sharks surrounding him in the Kelp Forest exhibit. God, this is his fucking favorite segment of the fish feeding at Monterey Bay Aquarium.

 

Lena says into the microphone with a chipper smile, “Now, I hear some of you saying that that’s a loooot of sharks in the tank! Gabe, are you scared that one of them might try to take a bite out of you?” She badly mimics a creature taking a big chomp. Some of the kids in the audience giggle at her antics.

 

“Oh, no, not at all.” He makes sure to keep his tone light-hearted and reassuring. He’d gotten in so much trouble for overenthusiastic swearing when he’d first started participating in the volunteer program. “These leopard sharks are too small to even bite through my gloves. In fact, even bigger sharks normally don’t go after humans. The bloodthirsty, man eating sharks that you see in movies like Jaws aren’t really accurate at all! Most sharks will only bite surfers because they have a silhouette that makes sharks think they’re seals.”

 

Patches is the closest to his hand at the moment, so he wafts a bit of fish in from of her and doesn’t let go when she bites it. He gently leads her in a graceful s-shape with his hand in her mouth. There are people on the balcony with their mouths hanging open. Gabe wants to cackle so badly. God, he’ll never tire of this. “I’ve been volunteering at the fish feedings for about five years now, and as a general volunteer- even longer. I’ve never been bitten unprovoked by one of our sharks.”

 

Lena gently guides him onto other topics- the garibaldi, the anchovies,  the kelp forest- because she knows that if she let him, he’d go on and on about sharks for the full fifteen minutes of the feeding. Once it’s over, he surfaces in the open air on top of the exhibit. Lúcio’s there already, waiting to help him with the diving suit with a big grin. “So, how are the lil’ fishies?”

 

“Everyone seems fine,” he replies. “Nick is still doing well after his checkup, and Iris is too." He claps the kid on the back with a still-damp hand. "Heh, just you wait. A few more months and maybe Winston’ll let you handle a show too, kid. Then you’ll be able to say hi to them in their homes.”

 

“Oh, that’s great!” Lúcio replies. He smiles, again.

 

Gabe frowns. The kid looks like he has something to say. “Luce, is there something wrong? You know you can talk to anyone if you think there’s been trouble, alright?”

 

Lúcio shifts on his feet a little. “I mean, it could be nothing, really. It’s maybe just my imagination? But… don’t you think that there’s less fish in the tank?”

 

Gabe thinks back, slowly. Are there less fish in the Kelp Forest? He usually focuses on the sharks more, but- he thinks Lúcio might be right. Oh, none of the bigger fish are gone. Sharks are fine, the garibaldi is fine, california sheephead is fine– the bigger, distinctive fish are all accounted for. But the swarms of señoritas and anchovies and maybe some of the kelp bass too. They were a little thin today, come to think of it. And it was odd, wasn’t it, how the fish weren’t eating as enthusiastically as they usually do. He feels sick to his stomach. How long has this been happening? Damn it. _Damn it._

He claps Lúcio on the shoulder. “Hey, kid. Thanks for bringing it up. I’ll talk to Winston and get it all sorted out, alright? Good eye.” Gabe tries to smile, but it comes out as more of a grimace. His good mood from the feeding is ruined.

 

* * *

 

“Look, we don’t have any sleepovers scheduled this week. Just let me keep an eye out?”

 

Gabe is pacing in front of his the volunteer activity supervisor’s desk. The more he thinks about Lúcio’s comment, the more he’s convinced that the kid’s right. Fish are going missing. Winston sighs and pushes his glasses up to rub the bridge of his nose. “Damn it all. Are you sure, Gabriel?”

 

He shrugs. “I don’t count the fish in the tank, man. But my instinct tells me that Lucio is onto something.”

 

Winston looks at him seriously. “Gabe, you’ve been volunteering here since high school, and I know that you’re nothing if not dedicated to the job. If you think that a stakeout is what we need, then I’ll allow it- for now. But if you can’t find anything in a week then I’ll put a stop to it.”

 

"Thanks, boss." He grins gratefully.

 

Gabe is fucking ready. When he finds the son of a bitch who’s been stealing the fish out of the tank, he’s going to deck them. _Nobody gets to steal from his fucking exhibit._

* * *

 

Gabe doesn’t see _anything_ until the fourth night.

 

It was exciting for the first few hours, for the first two days, but the sleep deprivation is really catching up to him now. He’s had to take a day off from work, because he was just too exhausted to keep his eyes open at the cash register. He’s just lucky that Liao was pretty chill about the short notice.

 

It’s so quiet and eerie in the aquarium when everyone has cleared out. The moonlight shines through the top of the kelp forest, bathing everything in shades of blue and grey. It’s beautiful, but Gabe’s grown accustomed to it after three sleepless nights, and it doesn’t quite hold the same wonder any more.

 

It doesn’t help that he’s too on edge to appreciate it, either. Gabe’s starting to think that maybe Luce really was imagining things, that nobody is actually stealing fish. Maybe they’ve just been more inactive recently, and everybody’s overreacting.

 

At two in the morning, he hears a splash like a gunshot and snaps awake. He was definitely not sleeping on the job, no sir, and he definitely wasn’t dreaming that he’d finally graduated and had been offered a full time job at the aquarium as a marine biologist, fuck.

 

 _Someone inna tank? Fuckin finally, m’gonna catch this stinking fishnapper._ He thinks muzzily.

 

And he looks over at massive, three-story tank. He’s not quite awake, yet- still in that dreamlike state right after being woken up, not yet a true member of the waking world. A blur of greys and whites crosses his vision and for a second, he thinks that one of the hammerheads has somehow snuck into the tank and has eaten the intruder. _You go, buddy. Go get that bastard._

 

The figure darts by again, and a cloud explodes around it. The other fish gather around it, mouths opening and closing rapidly- feeding. Whatever the thing is, it’s _killing_ the fish. Cold horror pours down Gabe’s spine. He punches the glass in fury. The figure stops swimming and drifts closer to the glass where Gabe is standing, and Gabe can finally see it clearly.

 

When he was a boy, his abuela had read stories to him. Every fairytale or picture book she could find, in Spanish or English. But his favorite book (besides the Scholastic Encyclopedia of the Ocean) had always been the Little Mermaid. The Disney version, not the old one. He’d been certain with that conviction that only really little children had that someday, he would find a real mermaid and make friends with it.

 

Well.

 

 _Looks like dreams do come true,_ he thinks hysterically, _a fuckin mermaid is eating the fish out of the Kelp Forest._

 

And he looks at it, moonlight and kelp shadows dappling its skin, a shark’s tail that fades so smoothly into a humanlike upper half that he can’t tell where fish or man start. Fish are still swarming around it, in a living shroud, and it’s eyes are more shark than human. It smiles, all sharp teeth like glass shards.

 

Gabe has never seen anything so beautiful.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> LISTEN I DIDNT MEAN TO START A NEW AU BUT I _FUCKING_ LOVE MONTEREY BAY AQUARIUM ALRIGHT? ALRIGHT.
> 
> here’s a quick rundown of who’s who in this au (so far)
> 
> Lucio- a fairly new volunteer, his family moved from Rio to California for job related reasons. While dealing with homesickness, he went to the aquarium and absolutely felt a resonance with the heavily conservationist message that it tries to convey. He signed up for the volunteer program the next day, and he’s found a lot of good friends there, like…
> 
> Lena- though she’s pretty young, she’s been volunteering at Monterey Bay for quite a few years! She went to the aquarium once as a kid, saw a dude just doing maintenance in the Open Ocean tank with the tuna and sharks and manta rays and just. Fell in love. As soon as she was old enough to begin volunteering, she started work there. As such, she’s actually fairly senior amongst the volunteers, and she gives talks for most of the feeding sessions, like the one for the penguins and otters and, of course, the kelp forest.
> 
> Winston- the head of the volunteer program. He’s pretty overworked, but always makes sure to interview candidates personally and write long and thoughtful letters of recommendation for all the student volunteers. The best boss, he is the definition of a gentle giant, although there is lowkey a poll on whether or not he would win a fight against a really angry octopus.
> 
> Gabe- known to all and sundry volunteers as the Shark Guy. He just fuckin loves sharks, alright? Even though his scene kid phase in high school, because sharks are just that cool. Currently a grad student studying marine biology at UCSD, he’s basically Winston’s right hand man. Works part-time at the Sockratic Method, which is a hybrid novelty sock shop and hipster cafe run by the ever-mysterious Liao. Shut up, it pays for tuition, alright? He tells people that he works with sharks in his free time and they think that he wrestle great whites cuz he looks intimidating, but nah. He plays with leopard sharks the length of his forearm and grins like a huge dope the entire time.
> 
> Jack- blue mako merperson. Why is he in the Kelp Tank? Who knows.


	2. Chapter 2

Holy fuck.

 

Gabe kind of wishes that he had a camera other than the shitty one on his phone, because he actually can’t believe his eyes right now. That’s a straight up merman in his tank. What the shit? Is this a joke? Are there hidden cameras in this room? Is he going to come in tomorrow to a room full of people laughing at him because _holy shit, dude, you should have seen your face?_

 

…On second thought, Gabe realizes that he doesn’t actually care very much about that. If this is a practical joke, then it’s the most elaborate one he’s ever seen. And considering the way the merman looks— damn. It doesn't look fake, there are no seams...

 

He’s seriously considering that it’s real.

 

(He's looking at the way that the muscle structure looks to be laid out, they way that they flex and shift under the skin. He doesn’t mean the— admittedly impressive— set of abs it’s got. _Fuck— those abs, though_.)

 

He wants to talk to it. God help him, but he needs to— does it speak English? Or other human languages? Holy shit, if it’s real, then he wants to talk to it so bad. Does it have a culture, is there an entire society of merpeople living underwater?

 

Gabe doesn’t know the answer to any of these questions, and he needs information _yesterday_. He needs— he needs—

 

The top of the tank is open air, he recalls.

 

He needs to get to the roof.

 

Gabe sprints up the stairs, _clompclompclomp_ , taking them three at a time. Roof, he needs to get to the roof. He can see in the corner of his eye that the merman is tracing his upwards ascent. Good, otherwise he’d have to wave a really long stick in there and hope to hell that would get it’s attention. He slams through the glass door on the third floor, fumbling on his lanyard for the keys for the two fences that surround the open top of the tank.

 

The surface of the water is cool and dark, only a few feet lower than the painted white metal railing. It ripples, and then breaks. The merman takes an audible breath of air— is it mammalian? But it looked like a shark, not cetacean. Maybe it’s more of a lungfish? No, that can't be it— Too many questions, not enough data. Gabe can just barely make out through the splashing that the gill slits along the lower ribcage flared and flushed out water before resealing tightly. Now that the merman is mostly out of the water, they look like scars, tracing its lower ribcage. It’s precariously balanced— half on the concrete floor and half lying down on the big metal pipes surrounding the edge of the tank. It rests its head on its forearms and watches him, waiting for him to come closer.

 

Gabe’s excited, not stupid. He hesitates before the lock on the inner fence, blind excitement tempered. The image of blood and scraps of fish between its teeth is clear in his mind. That’s an apex predator in that tank. Does he _really_ want to get that close to it?

 

Well… yeah. He does. Somebody help him, but he does.

 

He opens the second fence door. There’s only a few feet in between the two of them now, and Gabe can see the way that the water trickles off its skin in rivulets, catching the moonlight. Its hair is plastered down now that it’s in the air, but it isn’t long enough to get into its eyes— how does it cut its hair? _Does_ it cut its hair? God damn it, how do you work. It watches him, intently.

 

Gabe feels like the merman is letting him make the first move. Um. Well. Fuck, he doesn’t know what to say.

 

“Hi?” Oh, man. He sounds like a nervous teenager on his first date.

 

The merman tilts its head, consideringly. “Hello.”

 

 _Oh, wow. His voice is nice._ On a human standard, of course. Hm, humanlike vocal chords? Are there any fish that can mimic human voices? Gabe can’t remember off the top of his head.

 

And that phrasing, too. That’s food for thought. _Hello_. Not hi, but hello. This merman has had contact with other humans before. Oh, that’s really interesting.

 

“Hey, buddy, you have a name or am I going to have to keep calling you merman?” As soon as the words leave his mouth he’s berating himself for being an idiot. Stupid, stupid. Don’t use vernacular English in a conversation like this! You don’t know how proficient he is! Are you a scientist or not? Shit, he’s confused him. Gabe can see the merman mouth words to itself, brow wrinkled in thought.

 

The merman comes to a decision. He points at Gabe, then taps the concrete in front of himself. _Come closer._

 

Aw, hell no. Gabe isn’t stupid, he’s seen that shark move. It’ll have his throat out before he can blink. He steps back, warily.

 

The merman isn’t pleased. He clicks his tongue in disgust, and spits out an irritated hiss, no longer even bothering with human speech. Gabe is disappointed too, to be honest. God, he doesn’t have the time to do charades, he wants to know everything _now_. If only they had Duolingo for merfolk.

 

The merman looks at him again like it's trying to figure him out. He seems to come to a sudden realization, eyes growing wide and a smile growing wider. Before Gabe can attempt to question him once again, it slips off of its perch and dives underneath the surface. Oh. He shoves his disappointment down. Even if he couldn’t talk to it that well, he was going to try—

 

Something shoots out of the water, and all Gabe can do is take a step back before it hits him.

 

Gabe slams into the chain links on the inner fence fence, hard. Did he make it mad? What did it throw at him? Holy shit, is he is going to die here, he is going to die and—

 

There are lips on his. Cold but not clammy, and knives instead of teeth— he’s being kissed. Wait, _that’s_ what he wanted? And now that the shock of the impact is wearing off, Gabe is acutely aware of the heavy, sopping wet weight of the merman pressing down on him. Its hands are on his wrists so that he can’t shove it off. And he does kind of want to because— look, he’s hot. He’s hot as hell, but but his teeth are also serrated and seawater is getting into the cuts and basically Gabe’s mouth is burning and will probably be infected the next morning because this can’t possibly be sanitary. (God _damn_ , though, but a part of him believes that this is the weirdest wet dream he’s ever had. Wet dream, see what he did there?)

 

Memories start skipping through his mind. His ma telling him a bedtime story. Giving a presentation in third grade. Stupid jokes hollered at his friends from across the street, an interview for a volunteer position the valedictorian speech he’d given at high school graduation an audiobook he’d borrowed last week the announcements over the intercom at the aquarium words words words blending into a roar.

 

He’s still in a state of shock when the merman takes his lips off of him. He’s got more blood— Gabe’s blood— on his teeth now, but that smile. Even when he’s dazed from whatever the hell that was a smile with that number of fangs shouldn’t be that charming.

 

“Hey, Gabe,” the merman says, shark teeth glinting in the moonlight. “See, that wasn’t so bad, was it?”

 

 _Oh, are you_ fucking _serious?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NOTES:
> 
> Jack, why u so adorifying? XD
> 
> i mean. yall. gabe is the guy who loves sharks. jack is half shark. he’s gone, man. gbye, gabe, we hardly knew ye.
> 
> alright, this is the chapter where i said fuck it, hes a mermaid. if i want him to have telepathic mind reading powers, he gets mind reading powers. honestly, i just couldnt find a way for jack to have learned english, nor did i want to deal with a language barrier this entire fic. dont worry tho, i do know where jack learned that itty bit of english from. it may surprise you!
> 
> thank you constancecomment for beta help! ur the best <3
> 
> awright, see you later guys!


	3. Chapter 3

“Since when could you fucking _talk_?”

 

Gabe should probably not be so confrontational, not with so many teeth that close to his face. Hell, he can attest to how sharp they are. His lips still sting in the salt air.

 

But fuck it, he’d been thinking all along that this fishboy jackass couldn’t speak English and here he was, speaking with…

 

Huh.

 

A Northern Californian accent?

 

Gabe blinks. Man, what are the odds? Hell, if he closed his eyes, the merman would almost sound like, well, _him_.

 

…Hold the fucking phone.

 

Normally, Gabe wouldn’t consider something like this but— there really _was_ no reason for those particular memories to flash through his mind. He’d always thought that he’s see his family and friends right before he died, not a bunch of random-ass memories. (Really? _That_ presentation from third grade? The one where he’d punched Josh? Oh, god, _why_?) They weren’t random at all, were they? Language. Those memories all had to do with language.

 

Gabe squints at the merman draped over his legs incredulously. The merman grins again, flashing its teeth at him. It’s tail sways from side to side like that of the world’s most deranged puppy. God damn it, he’s adorable, but let’s not get distracted, here— “Holy shit, did you fucking read my mind? That’s creepy.”

 

The merman tilts its head, curious. “Aw, c’mon Gabe. It’s not as if I just took your memories. I just borrowed a few for a little bit. You wanted to talk and I wanted so here we are, talking! I don’t see any problems.”

 

“Wh— no problems? I— that— you” Gabe splutters. He’d like to yell about how that’s an obvious invasion of privacy but— merman, you know? What if it’s a cultural norm? It’s probably best to not make such a huge deal out of it. He attempts to switch topics, somewhat clumsily.

 

“You know a bunch of stuff about me and I know nothing about you. Hell, I didn’t tell you my name and you know it anyways… In fact, what’s your name? I can’t keep calling you merman, man.”

 

The merman scoffs like he can’t believe how dense Gabe is being. Despite himself, Gabe’s a little offended.

 

“Fine then,” the merman huffs. “Gimme a name then.”

 

“The hell are you talking about?”

 

The asshole has the gall to rolls his eyes at him. “You don’t really need a name out in the open sea, silly. I don’t talk to many people. So, unless you want to call me Hey You, then give me a name.” He pokes Gabe in the chest. “You named all of the sharks, didn’t you? You’re _good_ with names.”

 

He’s not _wrong_. Gabe likes giving people nicknames. Alright, let’s humor him.

 

…

 

Gabe bites his lip. Shit, he nicknames almost everyone he meets, why is this so hard? Stupidly earnest looking asshole, fuck. Goddamnit, he’d like this name to be _meaningful_ in some way, but all that’s coming to mind are fish puns which is just— no. ( _pick something already, dumbass_ —)

 

“Jack.” He blurts it out and immediately wants to take it back, because holy shit, that’s the most generic fucking name ever, he might as well have called him John Smith, idiot. But it’s too damn late.

 

“Jack. Jaaack. Jack.” The merman tries it out, and Gabe’s eyes are drawn to his jaw as the merman tests the feel of the sounds in his mouth. “I like it! Okay, call me Jack then. Wanna share some of the fish?”

 

Oh god, he’s so fucking cute— what.

 

Wait.

 

“No! No, I mean. Wait. You! You’re the one who’s been eating the fish in the aquarium. _Why?_ ”

 

The mer— Jack blinks, confused. (Nictitating membranes. Cool.) “Isn’t that what they’re for? There are so many fish in here, what else are you going to do with them? Look at them?”

 

“I mean, kind of? Hey, don’t play dumb, you should know what an aquarium is, you’ve read my memories—

 

“I don’t even– That’s not how it works; I don’t know everything that you know, stupid. An aquarium’s a place you put fish, right? It’s no big deal if I just take a few.”

 

“ _It is **too** a big deal!_ I’m responsible for these fish, dammit! I mean, I guess I’m technically not, as a volunteer, but! Even so! No eating the fish!” Gabe pauses in the middle of his rant. “Besides, how did you even get in here? We’ve got fences and shit and we’re on the third fucking floor right now, and I’m guessing you didn’t swim through the pipes or something, so how’d you even get in?”

 

“Do you always ask so many questions? I climbed, duh.” Jack points vaguely, at a place over his shoulder. You hadn’t paid attention to it earlier but, there’s a dark black mass hanging over the fence in the corner. If he squints, it almost looks like–

 

“You hauled your way up three stories, a balcony, and multiple goddamn fences on _a kelp rope_.” Gabe’s voice is flat in disbelief, and Jack snickers.

 

“Hey, man, I’m telling the truth. It’s your problem if you don’t believe me.”

 

The problem is Gabe _does_ sort of believe him. Bullwhip kelp is pretty thick and sturdy. When he was a kid, he used to play tug of war and jump rope with it on the beach, and he knows that the indigenous cultures used to plait it into ropes. It’s depressingly mundane. Gabe was privately hoping for more weird merpeople abilities.

 

“Alright. Fine. You’re a goddamn fishy ninja who breaks into aquariums for food. You can’t do that, the people who work here are going to get in trouble. Hell, if they catch you you’ll be the one in trouble.”

 

Jack pushes himself up, off of his position draped over Gabe’s knees. There’s a serious slant to his mouth as he lifts himself so that he’s face to face with Gabe. “What else am I going to eat, then? There’s not that much food in this area, and the seals are assholes and taste bad too.”

 

Gabe bites his lip and looks away. His first thought was to tell Jack to go swimming off into the deep ocean and find his own damn food. Except now that he’s gotten a better look at him, he’s fairly sure that Jack is sort of reminiscent of shortfin mako, which means he should really be in temperate or tropical waters, which Monterey is _definitely not_. Sure, mako have been found outside that range before, but– Gabe might never see Jack again after he leaves.

 

Maybe it’s selfish of him, but he really, really doesn’t want Jack to leave.

 

“How about,” he muses out loud (this is a terrible idea, you work a minimum wage job idiot) “how about this. If you stop eating the fish in here, then I’ll bring you food every other day or so. That way, you can still get easy food that I don’t feel responsible for.”

 

Jack’s considering it. Gabe adds, to sweeten the deal, “I bet you’ve never had beef before.” He hopes that Jack can eat beef. Seals and porpoises are warmblooded, and most sharks don’t have a problem with them, right? Jack better not want five pounds of fresh fish every two nights, that shit’s expensive.

 

Jack’s eyes widen a bit. “Now that’s a deal I can get behind. Do you still want to meet here? Because let me tell you, it’s kinda a pain in the ass to climb up every few nights, and I’ll be perfectly happy if I never have to do it again.” He adds with a smirk, “And besides, this way you can be _extra_ sure that I’m not eating any of your precious fishies, yes?”

 

“Shut up, asshole.” Gabe replies almost absentmindedly. He’s busy thinking about possible meeting spots. Monterey is, honestly speaking, pretty heavily developed along the coast, and he doesn’t want to drive to Carmel or further every two nights. So, somewhere secluded and in walking distance would be– “Point Joe? Uh, you probably don’t know it by that name, but you know how the place that we’re at right now is on some sort of peninsula, right? Well, if you face land and follow the shoreline to your right, you’ll come to a section of beach, Sawmill Gulch. And just beyond that, the rocky area that sticks out a bit is Point Joe. It’s probably a good idea to go somewhere with less people, and I’m hoping that not even the tourists are idiotic enough to go wandering a Northern Cali coast at night, so. Um. Meet you there tomorrow after dark?”

 

Jack chuckles, low and soft. “Mhm. I’ll hold you to that, Gabe. Well, since you’re here already, why don’t you put those legs of yours to good use and help me get back down?”

 

Get back down, like into the water– “Oh. You aren’t staying?” There’s a slightly upset edge to Gabe’s voice that he hopes that Jack can’t hear.

 

“There’s not much point, is there? I still have to go find something to tide me over until tomorrow, and you’ve made it clear I can’t eat in here. And besides, while I _can_ get back down myself, I’d really prefer it if I didn’t have to? So let’s get a move on, buddy.” With a scrape and a shove, Jack pushes himself off off Gabe’s legs and back into the tank. With only one-two-three strokes of his tail, he’s on the other side of the tank next to the gap in the white railing, looking at Gabe expectantly. “Well? What are you waiting for?”

 

Gabe jogs over. “What do you need me to do?”

 

“Get me over that fence on the edge of the roof, and I can take it from there. You can open them, right? So just carry me through and then gather up the rope, so I don’t have to take it down with me. That’s all.”

 

Easy enough– It’s only about twenty feet from the tank to the corner of the roof where the kelp is hanging. Gabe sighs and reaches out both his hands. “If you bite me, I’m dropping you.”

 

“I would _never_ ,” Jack replies in a mock offended tone. He grabs onto Gabe’s hands, and then pulls himself up. Gabe grunts with the effort– god, Jack’s not that heavy but he sure isn’t light either– and then he’s got the merman over his shoulder in some bizarre sort of fireman’s carry. Jack clutches Gabe’s shoulder like a lifeline, and he curls his tail in so that his body forms a sort of ring around Gabe. “Seriously, though. It’s the other way around,” Jack says, muffled by Gabe’s shoulder, “if you drop me, I _am_ going to bite you.”

 

“That’s not gonna to happen, sunshine.” Gabe replies somewhat breathlessly. “So just shut up and think lightweight thoughts, you big lug.”

 

Jack’s laughter isn’t loud, but he laughs with his whole body and Gabe swears as rough sharkskin scrapes against his palm. It’s doesn’t matter, though. They’re there. Jack lets go of Gabe and gets his hands on the top of the fence. Gabe ducks out of the way as Jack wriggles the rest of the way over and hits the roof on the other side with a wet _thawp_. Gabe tries to peek over on tiptoes. “You good, Jack?”

 

“Yeah, no problem. Ow. Don’t worry, Gabe, I’ll be out of your hair soon enough. Just hold the rope until it goes slack, okay?” Jack slides down the gentle slope of the roof with an odd susurrus of sharkskin against roof tile. When the sounds stop abruptly, the rope snaps taut and Gabe bites back a grunt. It’s not long before the heavy weight disappears, though. Gabe hears a loud **splash** and then a few seconds later, a somewhat quieter _splish_. He’s pretty sure that that was the Great Tide Pool, and then the ocean proper.

 

On impulse, Gabe yells over the fence. “See you tomorrow, sunshine!”

 

He hears what might have been a laugh over the sound of the waves.Maybe it was just wishful thinking. He chances a tug on the kelp rope, and it comes back over the edge begrudgingly, with no weirdly chipper merman attached to it. Jack’s gone.

 

Gabe’s clothes are soaked through with filtered saltwater. Now that there’s nothing to distract him from the fact Jack’s no longer draped over him like the worst blanket ever, the brisk ocean air makes him shiver. Well. There’s no real reason for him to stay overnight either now. He’s solved the mystery, prevented the loss of any more fish. Time to head home.

 

On the way back, his extraordinarily sleep-deprived brain suddenly presents him with a thought that has him laughing so hard that he nearly hits a light pole driving back.

 

_What the **hell** is he going to tell Winston tomorrow?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> look at it from Jack’s perspective. Guy notices him eating fish, and _immediately_ tries to fight him, nevermind that there’s glass and several thousand gallons of water separating the two. Jack flashes teeth in a threat display. The guy on the other side of the glass, instead of being intimidated, looks– he looks– something Jack doesn’t know the word for (wonder, that’s what you’re looking for). But it’s not a bad look on him, really. Perhaps he’d like to be friends?
> 
> Ah, yes, Gabe. Fail miserably to come up with a cool name for the fishboy, and then proceed to nICKNAME HIM IMMEDIATELY YOU FCUKING NERD _YOU ONLY USED HIS NAME IN YOUR OWN DAMN HEAD HE PROLLY THINKS HIS NAME IS JACK-SUNSHINE NOW_
> 
> Also, you cant call him a fishy ninja. Jack isnt the fishy ninja, trust me. :3c
> 
> Thanks for all the lovely comments, peeps! I've been very bad about replying to people especially on ao3, but that's because I get awful shy sometimes. yall make me feel warm n fuzzy inside. (also, if any of you want to ask questions about this ficverse, i would be happy to answer them! my tumblr username is the same as my ao3, darlins!)
> 
> Anyhoo, i think I’ve said this before but knowing me, probably not– going back to school this week, so updates for everything are slowing down like, a LOT. But nothing's been abandoned, alright? Thanks for understanding! Love u all <3


	4. interlude (image heavy)

 

 

**(Conversation overheard at the Reyes Household, 6:55 roughly translated from a combination of Spanish and English)**

 

Gabriel Reyes: Mama, I'm going to the store for some stuff. You want me to pick anything up?

 

Lorena Reyes: Who are you and what have you done with my son? My Gabrielito, all grown up and responsible, why it took you long enough---

 

G: Maaaaama, please. C'mon.

 

L: Ohh, you watch that attitude, son. Tsk, tsk. (pause) I don't think we need anything, no. It would be nice if you could pick up some orange juice, though. Why are you going to the store?

 

G: Uh. No reason, I just felt like it.

 

L: Gabriel. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, but don't lie to me.

 

(pause)

 

G: Sorry, mama. Uh, I'm just going to go meet a friend at Point Joe, and I was going to bring some food, you know. Because food is nice.

 

L: Oh my God you have a date. What's he like? Is he handsome? Does he speak Spanish? Where does he go to school? Gabriel, I want to meet this young man-- oh, don't blush, I'm your mother I won't embarrass you--

 

G: _Mama I have to go now I'll be late bye._

 

L: (calling out of the window) Ask him what his opinions on adoption are! I want grandkids, Gabrielito!

 

 

 

 

 

**(Phone Transcript for a Conversation Between 831- 493- #### and 831- 826- #### at 7:33)**

dos Santos: Hey, Lena! You there?

 

Oxton: Aw, hello, love! Yeah, I’m almost there. Biking down 17 Mile right now, actually! Didja meet up with Gabe already?

 

dos Santos: Hahaha! No, I wanted to park a little farther away, you know? I know a guy who’ll let me use his driveway in the country club. It’s a pretty short walk from there. I want to surprise him! And, uh. (pause) I guess I’m also a little worried, to be honest. All of this is really uncharacteristic for Gabriel, you know?

 

Oxton: Yeah, I getcha. (lowered voice) Oooh, I see his car. But there’s nobody around? I’m going to check his car, alright?

 

dos Santos: Lena, don’t be sneaky about it. That’ll just look suspicious, and you _will_ get the cops called on you. Lena. Lena? (sigh)

 

Oxton: (whisper) Sweet of you to worry, love, but I got this. Detective Lena is on the case! Anyways. Did you know that Gabe brought his diving gear with him?

 

dos Santos: But you can’t dive from Point Joe, it’s not deep enough?

 

Oxton: Mate, I’m telling it like I see it. (gravel crunching) It’s mostly just oxygen tank, buoyancy compensator... stuff like that. I can’t see a wetsuit or flippers anywhere, though? Huh.

 

dos Santos: Hana says to check for— damn it Hana, no—

 

Oxton: Shhh! Shshshsh! Somebody just surfaced, I heard it! It’s Gabe and another dude. Uh, I don’t recognise him, but he’s really blonde. Also, I don’t think he’s wearing a shirt. He must be new around here, heh.

 

dos Santos: Okay, no. That’s— nope. You stay right there. Me and Hana are parked, we can be there in five minutes if we run, Lena, I swear to God if you do—

 

Oxton: (calling out) HEY GABE! FANCY MEETING YOU HERE, EH?

 

dos Santos: Something stupid. Oh no. (away from phone) Hey, dude. Oh, man. I’m so sorry to bother you again, but can I borrow an old golf club for a sec? No, just like— yeah, that’s fine. I’m not going to use it to play golf anyways. Thanks, man.

 

Oxton: OI GABE, WHO’S YOUR FRIEND? THE BLONDE— fuck. Shit. Oh my God, I must be hallucinating. Lucio. Lucio, holy shit get here as fast as you can. _You aren’t going to believe this._

 

**–CALL DISCONNECTED–**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ONE LAST CHAPTER I SWEAR ILL GET GOING ON SCHOOL THINGS AFTER THIS
> 
> Sorry if the pictures are a little blurry or inconsistent! This is my first try at this sort of thing, and I hope it works. The screenshot was a lot of fun, actually. If you're wondering why I used bing and not google, its simple. google wanted me to sign in to access search history so nah. Also, I created an entire goddamn thing for Gabe's desktop, and the open tabs. It was fun! I forgot to change the date, though, so it's just blocked out XD.
> 
> Lucio is the ultimate mom friend. Think about it. Gabe is a grunge shark nerd, Tracer is an adrenaline junkie, and Hana- well. Somebody in this dang group has to make sure none of these nerds get themselves killed.
> 
> speaking of which, NEW CHARACTER TIME!
> 
> Hana- high school student who actually lives in the Silicon Valley area. Her parents are separated, and she lives with her mom most of the time because the school district is better. But every summer she spends in Monterey. This year, she's finally gotten into the Teen Conservation Leader program and was completely over the moon about it. Hana runs a youtube channel in her free time, and she's got a fairly dedicated following. She's popular because of her insane sense of competitiveness leads to interesting reaction shots a lot, and because she's also a pretty good sport who doesn't tend to trash talk heavily. Wants to win, but wants awesome opponents more. She met Lucio first at Fisherman's Wharf, and they tag teamed to shut down a bully who was going after some little kids. Lucio introduced this spunky lil kid to his friends from the aquarium, and the rest is history.
> 
> That's all I got! Byebye~


	5. Chapter 5

**Earlier that day**

Gabe’s leaning back precariously in his chair, feet up on his desk. He tosses his beanie up in the air. Catches it. 

 

Tosses it, catches it.

 

He’s been doing this for a good fifteen minutes.

 

He’s _so bored_.

 

If he’s going to be honest, he’s not used to having an entire day with no business to take care of. It’s been a cycle of work-school-aquarium for a few years at this point, and he keeps thinking that he’s forgetting some wildly important task that he has to do. Free time is weird.

 

He’s already taken a long nap today. He can’t clean his room because he always keeps it neat as hell. He’s serviced his coldwater diving gear already, lying neatly arranged in its duffel on his bed.There’s nothing going on on the internet and his home wifi is too shit for Netflix anyways. He can’t chat up anyone because all of his friends would think that he’s gone nuts for initiating a conversation for no reason in particular. (Look, he just doesn’t _do_ talking to people for fun, okay? That’s what Luce and Len and Hana are around for.) Liao’s in the shop today and probably won’t appreciate a call during business hours, and he doesn’t keep track of his classmates in UCSD over the summer. Gabe doesn’t have anything to do until nightfall, when he’s going to–

 

He misses his grab and the beanie lands on his face.

 

When he’s going to meet up with a merman to feed him so that he doesn’t eat fish out of aquarium tanks. It doesn’t sound any more real after he puts it into words. And there lies the real reason for his distraction, doesn’t it?

 

Jack the mermaid. Merman? Sharkperson? Whatever.

 

Back home in his room, with the sun shining through the faded old curtains, the events of last night seem so… unreal. Did he really meet a merman? Was it all just one big sleep-deprived hallucination?

 

Gabe rubs the palm of his left hand absentmindedly. Underneath the bandage, it would almost look like he’d scraped it on sandpaper. Nah, last night definitely wasn’t a dream.

 

So then. Merpeople exist. Gabe has no idea what the evolutionary line for _that_ must have looked like, and any research he’s tried to do has lead to cryptids, History Channel alien bullshit, or fantasy worldbuilding documents. Totally useless. And honestly, nothing he’s found has come close to touching the reality of what he’d seen, last night.

 

Jack with solid black eyes that looked almost blue in the moonlight, jagged teeth in a crooked grin. Jack with silvery freckles and scars dappling his skin, and pale white-blonde hair. Curious naivete and a fierce, careless sort of confidence in a single sleek movement.

 

Gabe groans and buried his hand in his hands. This is _so_ pathetic. What is he, a teenager with a crush? Well. He wouldn’t deny that he found Jack attractive. But he’s literally spoken to the guy for five minutes. Hell, maybe merpeople eat land people and they attract their prey by being all pretty and charming and witty and then you agree to meet them at some secluded beach and nomnom, you’re a dead idiot. Gabe doesn’t know! He doesn’t know jack fucking shit right now!

 

But every time he thinks back to that first memory of seeing a figure in the aquarium tank, he feels a flutter of _something_ in his heart. There’s a childish delight wrapped up in fascination and attraction and pure wonder, and he knows that he’s fucking doomed. There’s no way he’s not going to the rendezvous tonight.

 

A glance over at the clock tells him that it’s a quarter to seven. Maybe… maybe he should head there early. In case it’s some sort of trap. And it _would_ be easier to see Jack coming with the sun still shining. The sun’ll be out until nine, this early in the summer. It’s not as if he has anything else to do.

 

As Gabe starts looking around for his keys, though, the duffel on the bed catches his eyes. His diving gear.

 

Almost a centimeter of neoprene, which is probably the closest he’s going to get to body armor on such a short notice. He’s not planning on entering the water because Jesus fucking shit that is an idiotic decision, but the suit itself is pretty sweet. It’ll offer some protection. Of course, it’s probably not going to do much good if Jack really tried to snack on him, but hey! Every little bit counts.

 

If Gabe’s going to be honest with himself, it might be the only good idea he’s had in a week. He yanks the neatly folded suit out of the duffel. Eh, he’s definitely worn worse to go shopping.

 

Point Joe, here he comes.

* * *

 

Gabe parks on the shoulder of the road and hops out of the car.  Almost as an afterthought, he steps over the old knee-high wooden fence on his way toward the craggy collection of rocks dotting the shore and shallows just ahead. He slides down the steep rock and sand incline until he’s sitting about a foot above the edge of the water, which is probably cold as hell, but the wetsuit he’s wearing keeps the chill out. Goggles hang around his neck. Just in case, you know? Seawater stings like a bitch.

 

Gabe can hear the seals barking in the distance, and water lapping at stone. It’s a soothing soundtrack. He hooks the plastic bag of meat onto a ridge jutting outwards and rests his chin on one knee. The sky’s clear and blue today, but the water’s still more of a grey-blue than a bright cerulean. In the distance, he can see patches of darkness that he knows are tops of kelp beds, hiding fish and crab and so many types of marine life. The ocean extends as far as Gabe can see and he’s struck by the sudden feeling that there’s no fucking **way** that people will ever know everything about the ocean. Gabe could work until he’s old and grey and he’d never get to know even half of what’s underneath the waves. And maybe it’s a thought that should be discouraging but it just makes him giddy, because there will always be something new to see, to explore. And this feeling, sitting here looking over the waves? This feeling right here is why he’s putting his ass through a PhD. There’s nothing else he’d rather do.

 

Even if Jack doesn’t show up, he _could_ just stay here and watch the sunset. It’s one of the things he missed about Norcal. Sure, San Diego has beaches that are actually fit for human habitation, but there’s something to be said for wedging yourself between two outcroppings just above the high tide line and just relaxing to the ambient noise. As the minutes go by, Gabe’s eyelids inch downwards drowsily.

 

The sudden sensation of pressure around his outstretched ankle startles him awake. He flails in confusion and then overbalances like a chump. Falls off the rock. Oh shit fuckfuckfuck this could be bad he’s going to break something why this.

 

But instead of landing on hard stone, Gabe impacts… something fleshy?

 

“Ow,” his landing platform wheezes out underneath him. “Hello to you too, Gabe.”

 

“Jack?” Gabe splashes to his feet– this close to shore, the water isn’t any more than a few feet deep, barely reaching the bottom of his ribcage. “You’re here early, I wasn’t expecting– are you alright?”

 

“Well, it can’t be too early if you’re here too.” Jack points out. He rubs his chest and winces. “Seriously, I’m never doing that again.” Jack curls up in a fluid movement in the shallow water so that he’s upright and able to face Gabe more comfortably. “But really, I didn’t expect to see you here! You’re here early, Gabe.”

 

“I wasn’t expecting you to actually be here so soon, either. I though we agreed on dusk, Sunshine.” Gabe says. He pauses and scratches his head sheepishly. “Uh, I should come back at nine or later, Jack, we’re going to be seen by somebody. I forgot that Point Joe was a tourist thing, people might actually see us.”

 

“Then we can just go behind the rock. Come on, Gabe. We’re both here already! You don’t need to leave.”

 

Gabe hesitates, and Jack’s eyes widen a bit. He curls his tail a little closer to his body and when he speaks again, it’s far more subdued than Gabe can remember him sounding. “You don’t trust me.”

 

Gabe looks away. It’s true.

 

“I trusted last night that you wouldn’t hurt me.” Jack’s blank shark eyes have no discernable pupils, but Gabe can feel the focus on his face. A cold hand reaches up to brush along the side of Gabe’s jaw. “Can’t you give me that same faith?”

 

(You’ve known him for a day. He could be lying. If he eats you, nobody will ever find your body.)

 

Gabe looks at Jack. For all that he’s facing an apex predator, he can’t help but feel that there’s a vulnerable look on Jack’s face. In that moment, he realizes that he could say no. He could say no, and Jack– Jack, who hasn’t tried to hurt him yet, who jokes around with Gabe instead of threatening him, who seems really, really **lonely** the more Gabe looks at him– would accept it. Jack would be alright with it, but it would hurt him. It would really hurt Jack, and Gabe can't– he _won’t_ –

 

“Alright.” Gabe breathes out. “Lead the way, Jack.”

 

Jack smiles, and despite the fact that his mouth is literally all edge, there’s something soft and sweet to it. Gabe falls a little deeper into the hellhole called “I might actually have a crush on a merman who could rip my throat out by complete accident”. He tugs Gabe towards the open ocean, and Gabe only barely remembers to snag the plastic bag still up on the rock. The two of them don’t go out very far, but it the water gets deep fast, and soon, Gabe’s treading water as Jack pops his head out expectantly. “This should be good enough, right?”

 

Instead of answering, Gabe simply unwraps the meat he’d gotten from the neighborhood grocery and hands it to Jack. The merman grabs it with his hands and, with a wink and shit-eating grin, immediately dives underneath the waves, leaving Gabe fumbling with his goggles. Shit, he wanted to _see_ –

 

By the time he’s under the water, though, it’s a little too late. Not a lot is visible through the blenderized remains of what might have once been five pounds of the cheapest cut he could find at Safeway. Jack dashes out suddenly of the pink-white cloud and gets right in Gabes face. Gabe, startled, pushes off the ground and surfaces. Spluttering, he glares at Jack. “Sunshine, what was that about?”

 

Jack opens his mouth to say something, but then—

 

“HEY GABE! FANCY MEETING YOU HERE, EH?” A voice calls out, shattering the illusion of privacy. Ice races down Gabe’s spine, because fucking hell, this is _worse_ than just being seen by some random tourist on vacation. He recognizes that voice.

 

_What’s Lena doing here?_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would say that i was sorry for that cliffhanger but :3c
> 
> please consider the fact that Jack has shit eyesight and a lisp. Because 1) sharks do have awful vision and 2) Jack has fangs for teeth.
> 
> I tried to convey here that Gabe was really not in his right mind in the previous chapter and now that it’s the morning after, he has Regrets. But on the other hand, he’s also a massive softie so good job, Jack, for pulling off that kicked puppy look so well.
> 
> I had so many other things i also wanted to point out but my dumb ass forgot them all so. lol
> 
> Augh, thanks for putting up with my lack of a publishing schedule. College is kicking my ass. I hope to get some more chapters out soon but… we’ll see. We’ll see. Catch ya later, darlins!


	6. Chapter 6

Gabe freezes. Holy fuck this is the worst. Really, Lena? Of all the times to pop up out of nowhere…

 

Gabe doesn’t want her to see Jack. Lena’s a nice girl, but she’s not reserved by any means. Who knows what she might let accidentally slip out, and to whom? Better to keep Jack under wraps for as long as possible, which means he has to--

 

“Hide!” Gabe hisses. Jack blinks in confusion, and he bares his teeth like a threat display but that isn’t what he needs right now, Lena’s going to be here any second, please, Jack hide--

 

“OI, GABE, WHO’S YOUR FRIEND? THE BLONDE-- fucking hell i must be hallucinating.” Lena, who’s been scrambling down the rocky slope the entire time, slides to a halt, mouth gaping wide open. She mutters something that Gabe can’t quite catch into her phone, until it slips out of her hand and bounces off the rocks and under the waves. Lena yelps and she looks ready to dive into the water to retrieve it herself. Gabe make a move to go get it, mind racing. He needs to come up with something to tell her, a reasonable explanation for, well, Jack. He doesn’t want her to be scared because scared people do stupid things and--

  


“Here, you dropped this.” Gab belatedly notices that Jack-- fast motherfucker that he is-- is no longer behind him. He’s got Lena’s phone in one hand, dripping wet in its chunky orange waterproof case. He smiles, putting all of his teeth on display, and Lena’s eyes widen even further. Gabe can almost imagine what it looks like from her perspective-- Jack’s aesthetically pleasing but he wouldn’t pass for human to anyone with a working pair of eyes. And that close to Jack, she can see all the little details, the scars and the gills and the teeth and the otherworldliness of the whole thing tied together that really and truly convinced Gabe that Jack was real and not some actor.

 

She reaches out the hand that’s not resting on the rocky slope for balance. With the slightest tremble of her fingertips, she takes her phone back. “Haven’t seen you around here before, love. You new?” Her voice isn’t at its usual manic energy, but she’s not screaming like an extra in a horror movie, so that’s a good thing, right?

 

“I’m Jack. Who are you?” Jack’s tone is blunt, rather than teasing, and it makes Gabe uncomfortable for a second. It sounds… guarded. There’s none of the lilting charm he’s used to hearing, and Gabe is thrown off balance.

 

“I’m Lena. I’m friends with Gabe from the aquarium.”

 

“That’s funny, so am I. Sort of.” Lena blinks as she processes this statement and Gabe can almost _see_ the dots connecting in her head.

 

Lena turns to glare at him. “So when were you going to tell me about your _new buddy_ , Gabe?” After years of friendship, its easy to read between the lines. _A literal sharkperson has been breaking into the aquarium to steal fish and you didn’t tell me???_

 

Gabe, who has been swimming closer to where Jack and Lena were, finally finds solid ground under his feet. He stands up straight in chest-high water and holds his hands up. “Hey, I’ve known about him for less than 24 hours, man.”

 

Lena sticks out her tongue at him. “Bleh, that’s not an excuse! You coulda just texted uuuuuuusss… oh, shit. Oh, _balls_. I hecked up.” She pales.

 

Gabe frowns. “Hey, you alright there Lena? If you’re in trouble, I can see what I can do, no problem.”

 

“No! Nonononono, that’s not the problem here, the problem is that I was on the line with Lúcio and I forgot to tell him that--”

 

“ **aaaaaAAAAAAA _AAAAAAAAH_ ALRIGHT, EVERYONE BACK AWAY FROM EACH OTHER AND NOBODY MOVE! GABE DON’T KILL LENA, BECAUSE I GET DIBS! SANTA MARIA MÃE DE DEUS I CAN’T _BELIEVE_ YOU WOULD GO RUNNING OFF LIKE THAT _WHYYYY_?** ”

 

Lúcio comes sprinting down the slope, holding a bent golf club like a battleaxe. He skids to a hard stop, just barely keeping his balance on the rocks. He takes a moment to breathe-- sweat-soaked, wheezing, hands on his knees. But in the absolute shock of the moment, neither Gabe nor Lena make a move.

 

Gabe tries to keep his attention on Lúcio, but it’s a lot harder than it sounds. As soon as Lucio had come into view, Jack had darted back towards Gabe and wrapped himself around him like an overly enthusiastic eel, nearly toppling the both of them over in the process. Jack’s ~~bare~~ chest is pressed to Gabe’s back, and his tail is curled up in front like a shield for them both. His hands grip Gabe’s shoulders tightly. Even through the thick diving suit, Gabe can feel the tension in Jack’s body. (he’d also like to feel those bice-- brain this is _not the time, please_ )

 

Lúcio sucks down a big breath and stands back up, whipping the golf club back up. “Alright! _None_ of you move until I know what exactly is going on heeeeoly shit you have a tail.”

 

Gabe resigns himself to the fact that Jack didn’t even stay a secret for an entire day. Maybe it’s for the best, if he’s going to be honest. Lúcio and Lena are good kids and he doesn’t like keeping secrets from his friends.

 

Lena laughs nervously. “Wow, Lúcio! Hi! Fancy meeting you here? Ehehehe.”

 

“ _You!_ ” He hisses back at her, forgetting to be gobsmacked for a split second. “Lena Oxton, I cannot believe you! You’re going to get yourself in serious trouble someday if you keep running off like that! Buddy, you” he prods her in the shoulder with the golf club,  “have some explaining to do!” He finishes with a glare.

 

Lena raises a finger and opens her mouth. “You see, it’s simple. There’s a very, very good explanation for all this... Uh. That I don’t know.” She turns to Gabe. “Hey, Gabe, care to share what in the world is going on?”

 

Her back is towards Lúcio and she mouths words exaggeratedly at Gabe. _oh god luce looks_ this _close to murder bail me out gabe youre the best thanks.  
_

Gabe’s tempted to leave her high and dry, but in the end it’s not really Lena’s fault for happening upon him at a really bad time. And besides--

 

“Gabe! Who are they?” Gabe jumps a little bit the cold puffs of air right next to his ear tickle. Apparently, Gabe thinks grumpily, everyone wants to be a twitchy bastard today. What a clusterfuck. But shit, as the person with the most complete picture of the entire thing, he really does sort of owe everyone an explanation. “Alright, I’m only going to say this once, you useless nerds, so--”

 

“Luce, come on! I can’t run that fast and you know it! Geez, what even is the rush-- okay, who hired the mermaid? Because holy shit, that makeup is _sweet_.”

 

Gabe fails to resist the urge to bury his head in his hands. How is this his life?

 

He can feel Jack shaking in laughter behind him. _Asshole_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> about the teeny bit of Portuguese. Tbh, i debated this for a time! Im not a fan of putting snippets of other languages in fic, because its a pain to try and suss out the translation on the reader's end. Also, i dont speak Portuguese and i dont want to get it wrong ^^; But i think that a) its fairly easy to guess what he’s saying here and b) its a situation where he _would_ , you know? Because I’ve already stated that Lúcio is a second- language english speaker, and i think it would be weirder for him to not slip in times of stress. But I will try my best to keep it accurate and non intrusive, folks. 
> 
> ah, it’s a shorter chapter this time, too. sorry bout that! College is... still a thing (wake me up insiiide) but hey! this chapter came faster than the last one? ^W^ Catch ya later, darlins!


End file.
